St. Francis Pet Blessing. Stewardship.
“St. Francis was a lean and lively little man; thin as a thread and vibrant as a bowstring; and in his motions like an arrow from the bow. All his life was a series of plunges and scampers: darting after the beggar, dashing naked into the woods...In appearance he must have been like a thin brown skeleton autumn leaf dancing eternally before the wind; but in truth it was he that was the wind.” - G.K. Chesterton, “St. Francis of Assisi”
Tomorrow, October 4th is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This most unique person has captured the imaginations of many over the years. One person, who wrote quite beautifully about him, was G.K. Chesterton, is quoted above.
If you have any affinity for and interest in learning more about St. Francis, I encourage you to check out Chesterton's short work simply titled, "St. Francis of Assisi.” It is widely available for purchase in hard copy, but since it is in the public domain, you are welcome to read it for free online. http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/St_Francis.html
For many years now, in honor of this great saint, churches have held services for blessing of animals on or near his feast day. You are welcome to bring your pet or even a picture of them to the church this Sunday, 10/6, at 4 PM. We will have a brief prayer service with blessing of the animals, and afterwards there will be treats for animals and humans alike. Even if you don’t have any animals you are welcome to come!
Peace,
Fr Adler+
“Dominion” Extra Credit
Last week we covered chapter 1: Athens. Unlike most of the chapters in the book, we covered almost 500 years. I promise going forward the time lapse in each chapter won’t be nearly that much. I promised that I would send some of the key dates covered in the chapter and so here they are:
519 BC - King Darius of Persia crucifies 3,000 Babylonians
480 BC - Xerxes (the Great) of Persia crosses the Hellespont, and conquers Greece
479 BC - Athenians crucify Artayctes (representative of Xerxes) at Hellespont
425 BC - Aristophanes (playwright) mocks pagan gods with his comedy
334 BC - Alexander of Macedon (the Great) crosses the Hellespont
322 BC - Death of the philosopher Aristotle
317 BC - Demetrius of Phaleron, appointed governor (philosopher king) of Athens
307 BC - Demetrius flees Athens as Demetrius “The Besieger” conquers Athens
297 BC - Demetrius of Phaleron arrives at court in Alexandria
167 BC - The last king of Macedon dragged in chains through Rome
67 BC - Pompey (the Great) visits famed philosopher Posidonius in Rhodes
Here is the link to view a recording of last week’s class: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/meDlva9jHBcaGQE483gW3-zodmauQHeh3gQlGDiNNdUrRx7vm-qiyFUgUYmvgErZ.JCyNafi-oIFowKSd
Stewardship 2024
Congregations that approach financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not view the money Christians give to their church merely as a way to pay its bills. Rather, such congregations see financial contributions as a way to help people grow spiritually in their relationship with God by supporting the church's mission and ministry with a percentage of their incomes.
Many church's stewardship programs focus on the need of the church to receive and treat people like members of a social club who should pay dues. This, however, is not a biblically based philosophy of giving. Instead we will focus on the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual development, remembering that we are followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship. This understanding of stewardship encourages people toward proportionate and systematic giving in response to the question, "What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?"
During morning worship on Commitment Sunday, 10/27, all will be invited to make their financial commitments to our church's missionary, benevolent, and educational ministries in this community and (through the diocese and the national church) around the world.
I hope that you will be able to join us for Commitment Sunday and that it proves to be a fruitful spiritual experience. Thanks in advance for your prayerful consideration of and participation in Commitment Sunday.